Table of Contents for Ticker Tape : Updates

Ticker Tape - Infra

Adani acquires Dhamra Port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent stake in the Dhamra Port in Odisha from Tata Steel and L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (L&T IDPL) for about Rs.5,500 crore. The port acquisition gives APSEZ an opportunity to replicate the development and phenomenal growth of the Mundra port on the west coast of India and thereby continue to execute its pan-India strategy. Dhamra Port handles coal, iron ore and other minerals and will handle different types of cargo in the coming days.

INDIA- B’DESH TO CONSTRUCT RAIL LINK

India and Bangladesh have decided to start construction work of a new railway link between the two South Asian neighbours early next year to ease surface traffic. India will construct 15 km railway tracks to link Agartala, the capital of Tripura, with the port and rail junction city of Akhaurah in Bangladesh which is connected to the Chittagong port, Sylhet and Dhaka. The detailed project report is to be finalised by next month. India has sanctioned Rs.2,520 million for the construction of the railway track of which only 5 km of tracks will fall in Indian territory. The proposed rail link is expected to not only improve bilateral ties, but also enable connectivity with inaccessible areas in the north-eastern states.

Canadian Pension Fund to invest in L&T Infra

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is planning an investment of over Rs.2,000 crore in the infrastructure arm of L&T, its first investment in India. This is the first direct private investment by a Canadian pension fund in a domestic infra development company. It is reported CPPIB's wholly owned subsidiary CPP Investment Board Singaporean Holdings (CPPIBSH) will make an initial investment of Rs.1,000 crore in L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (L&T IDPL) and following that a second tranche of Rs.1,000 crore or more. Incidentally L&T Infrastructure owns the largest toll-road concession portfolio in India with 19 toll-roads spanning more than 2,200 km.

JICA, World Bank to fund high-speed rail corridor

The first high-speed rail corridor, linking the 534 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad stretch, is likely to be funded through soft loans from key international funding agencies such as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and World Bank. The high speed trains are expected to run at a speed of up to 350 km per hour. JICA is undertaking a feasibility study of the corridor project; it already has investments in key projects like for the Western arm of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project and has also funded the Delhi Metro.

Centre clears 7 projects worth Rs 21,000 crore

The NDA government has cleared seven big-ticket investment projects worth Rs.21,000 crore recently. These include the 235 km railway line, critical to tap Chhattisgarh's second largest iron ore reserves for the Bhilai Steel Plant which has been stuck on the drawing board for over 30 years, a major hydro-electricity project in Sikkim that has been in the works since 2005, a 120-kilometre six-lane highway in Karnataka, a four million tonne iron ore processing plant being set up by state-run NMDC in Chhattisgarh, and three major power projects that could raise India's electricity generation capacity by over 3,500 MW.

IRB Infra inks pact with NHAI

IRB Infrastructure has entered into a pact with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a Rs.2,300-crore project for widening of a highway stretch in Haryana under National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The project is to be executed on DBFOT (design, build, finance, operate and transfer) pattern with a concession period of 27 years. The estimated project cost is approximately Rs.2,300 crore and the construction is to be completed within 910 days. This project will expand the company’s base in Haryana. And with this project, IRB’s construction order book will increase from Rs.8,600 crore to approximately Rs.10,600 crore, to be executed in the next three to four years.

Centre to fast -track road repair in Uttarakhand

The Narendra Modi govern-ment is seeking solutions for the faster restoration of the road network in disaster-hit Uttarakhand and has directed central roads officials to push road reconstruction projects in the region. In this connection The Minister of Road Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari has ordered a performance audit of the Border Road Organization (BRO) which is responsible for building and maintaining strategic roads in this area, and asked officials from the ministry, NHAI and private developers to take urgent measures to overcome delays in project implementation.

Ticker Tape - Infra

Adani acquires Dhamra Port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent stake in the Dhamra Port in Odisha from Tata Steel and L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (L&T IDPL) for about Rs.5,500 crore. The port acquisition gives APSEZ an opportunity to replicate the development and phenomenal growth of the Mundra port on the west coast of India and thereby continue to execute its pan-India strategy. Dhamra Port handles coal, iron ore and other minerals and will handle different types of cargo in the coming days.

INDIA- B’DESH TO CONSTRUCT RAIL LINK

India and Bangladesh have decided to start construction work of a new railway link between the two South Asian neighbours early next year to ease surface traffic. India will construct 15 km railway tracks to link Agartala, the capital of Tripura, with the port and rail junction city of Akhaurah in Bangladesh which is connected to the Chittagong port, Sylhet and Dhaka. The detailed project report is to be finalised by next month. India has sanctioned Rs.2,520 million for the construction of the railway track of which only 5 km of tracks will fall in Indian territory. The proposed rail link is expected to not only improve bilateral ties, but also enable connectivity with inaccessible areas in the north-eastern states.

Canadian Pension Fund to invest in L&T Infra

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is planning an investment of over Rs.2,000 crore in the infrastructure arm of L&T, its first investment in India. This is the first direct private investment by a Canadian pension fund in a domestic infra development company. It is reported CPPIB's wholly owned subsidiary CPP Investment Board Singaporean Holdings (CPPIBSH) will make an initial investment of Rs.1,000 crore in L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (L&T IDPL) and following that a second tranche of Rs.1,000 crore or more. Incidentally L&T Infrastructure owns the largest toll-road concession portfolio in India with 19 toll-roads spanning more than 2,200 km.

JICA, World Bank to fund high-speed rail corridor

The first high-speed rail corridor, linking the 534 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad stretch, is likely to be funded through soft loans from key international funding agencies such as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and World Bank. The high speed trains are expected to run at a speed of up to 350 km per hour. JICA is undertaking a feasibility study of the corridor project; it already has investments in key projects like for the Western arm of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project and has also funded the Delhi Metro.

Centre clears 7 projects worth Rs 21,000 crore

The NDA government has cleared seven big-ticket investment projects worth Rs.21,000 crore recently. These include the 235 km railway line, critical to tap Chhattisgarh's second largest iron ore reserves for the Bhilai Steel Plant which has been stuck on the drawing board for over 30 years, a major hydro-electricity project in Sikkim that has been in the works since 2005, a 120-kilometre six-lane highway in Karnataka, a four million tonne iron ore processing plant being set up by state-run NMDC in Chhattisgarh, and three major power projects that could raise India's electricity generation capacity by over 3,500 MW.

IRB Infra inks pact with NHAI

IRB Infrastructure has entered into a pact with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a Rs.2,300-crore project for widening of a highway stretch in Haryana under National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The project is to be executed on DBFOT (design, build, finance, operate and transfer) pattern with a concession period of 27 years. The estimated project cost is approximately Rs.2,300 crore and the construction is to be completed within 910 days. This project will expand the company’s base in Haryana. And with this project, IRB’s construction order book will increase from Rs.8,600 crore to approximately Rs.10,600 crore, to be executed in the next three to four years.

Centre to fast -track road repair in Uttarakhand

The Narendra Modi govern-ment is seeking solutions for the faster restoration of the road network in disaster-hit Uttarakhand and has directed central roads officials to push road reconstruction projects in the region. In this connection The Minister of Road Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari has ordered a performance audit of the Border Road Organization (BRO) which is responsible for building and maintaining strategic roads in this area, and asked officials from the ministry, NHAI and private developers to take urgent measures to overcome delays in project implementation.